PortAventura's Dragon Khan roller coaster undergoes most important maintenance in its 30-year history

Catalonia's largest amusement park, PortAventura, has partially dismantled its most famous roller coaster, Dragon Khan, for the most extensive maintenance it has ever undergone in its 30-year history.

Work began as soon as the park shut down its doors on January 7 to replace two of the eight 'loopings' that were reaching the end of their lifespans after 30 years of operation.

Works will last around two weeks, and the amusement park expects to be ready ahead of the start of the season, scheduled for February 27. Technical services director at PortAventura, Sergio Fraile, said that this is the most important operation ever for Dragon Khan and the park, as it is almost like rebuilding a new ride.

The operation, named 'retrack', sees workers changing part of the current track for new pieces with the same shape. They will change the 'vertical loop' and the 'cobra roll'. The first part, the vertical loop, has already been dismantled using a large crane, as the piece weighs 12 tonnes.

PortAventura estimates the cost at around €3 million, with around 50 workers working for several weeks.

"The first part is to dismantle these pieces, get rid of the tracks, and the columns," Fraile said. At the same time, they need to prepare the ground for the new columns before reinstalling the tracks.

"The last phase will be to test the ride and ensure everything works smoothly," he added. He explained that a normal user will not notice the difference, but a "person with a high tolerance for sensations" will indeed feel that the car goes more smoothly.

"Dragon Khan has aged well," Fraile said, as the dry climate without extreme temperatures of the Costa Daurada has helped keep the infrastructure at its finest.

Although the pieces are normally recycled for other uses, Fraile said they are still pondering what to do with those used at Dragon Khan. "These are very iconic pieces, so we will save hem, and then we will decide what to do with them," he concluded.